The present disclosure relates to ranking search results for presentation to a computer user.
Search engines provide users with a list of results identified from a set of candidate data. A query that includes one or more keywords related to information being sought is entered, and the system returns a set of results from which the user can choose. The identification of the results included in the results set can use any number of identification algorithms and criteria.
Search engines are often used by consumers to perform research regarding products of interest in order to make a purchasing decision. For example, a user may wish to obtain information regarding a product's price, features, or availability. The set of data from which a given system identifies results generally includes listings for products as well as a variety of accessories related to those products. An accessory is an item that is sold separate from a product but is associated with the product (for example, through its function, features, operation, appearance, etc.) such that the accessory might appear in search results for the product.
A user search for information regarding a given product often returns a set of results that includes both product and accessory listings. The product and accessory results can be intermingled in the order of the results presented to the user. This can prove frustrating. For example, if the user is researching a product to make a purchasing decision, the user is likely to be less interested in results related to a product accessory for a product that the user does not yet own. Unfortunately, in cases where the results set includes intermingled product and accessory result listings, the user may have to visually scan each individual result to determine if the result is of interest. To determine if a given result is a related to a product or accessory, the user may have to select the result, by clicking on it for example, to review it more thoroughly.